a long, emotional night that began in controversy is now ending in unity tore the democrats here in charlotte, north carolina. delegates to the democratic national convention are renominating problem problem after cheering a long and electrifying nomination speech by the former president, bill clinton.

>> he lobbed back plenty of attacks of his own. watch. >> in tampa, the republican argument, against the president's re-election was actually pretty simple, pretty snappy. it went something like this. we left him a total mess. he hadn't cleaned it up fast enough, fire him and put us back in. now -- but they did it well. they looked good, they sounded good. they convinced me that they all love their families and their children and we're grateful they've been born in america and -- really, i'm not being -- they did. and this is important. they convinced me they were honorable people who believe what they said and they're going

to make every commitment they made. we just have to make sure we know what the american people know what those commitments are, because -- because in order to look like an acceptable, reasonable, moderate alternative to president obama, they just didn't say very much about the ideas they've offered over the last two years. they couldn't. because they want to go back to the same old policies that got us in trouble in the first place. they want to cut taxes for higher income americans even more than president bush did, get rid of the pesky financial regulations designed to preven another crash and prohibit future bailouts. they want to increase defense spending over a decade, $2 trillion more, than the pentagon has requested, without saying what they'll spend it on. and they want to make enormous cuts in the rest of the budget, especially programs that help the middle class and poor children.

as another president once said, there they go again. >> a lot of references in his speech, both subtle and direct, former republicanpresident, ronald reagan. president obama came out on stage. the two men shared a hug, a show of appreciation for a speech that may have gone a long way in helping obama's campaign. a lot to talk about. quick reactions from our panelists, in terms of the top takeaway for tonight? john? >> he knows how to frame an argument and make a case. he has great passion and he speaks in a folksy manner that is something president obama fails to do. bill clinton's record as governor and president is making connection on the substance of an kmin argument powerful. >> we've spent both of these conventions talking about how the candidates needed to be humanized by their spouses or whatever. look at bill clinton.

he's somebody who talks about policy from his heart. and that is something he lived and he lived it when he was president. agree or disagree, this is a man who loves the journey of ideas, loves thinking about it, loves talking about it and nobody else can drill down on the substance and tell a story. >> and loves the politics. i was struck by -- >> of course. >> by how different four years ago, this was a man campaigning vigorously for his wife, saying some very tough things about then candidate obama, not making the obama campaign happy, four years later he's playing a critical role for the obama re-election. >> look at the party tonight. it's a party that's more energetic, a party that is diverse. a party that is going to work overtime to help re-elect president obama. we had a very difficult moment in 2008. there were two wonderful, credible candidates fighting against each other. they came together and they are still together. bill clinton, once again, validated president obama who is

someone who is up to the job and getting america back on track. >> they're probably not hanging out together having a beer after this. they've gone their separate ways. >> it depends on the recipe as you well know. >> carly fiorina? >> i agree. i think bill clinton is an incredibly skillful and fantastic storyteller. we heard a story in that clip that you played. his story was all the problems were caused by republicans for the last eight years. it was bill clinton that seened financial deregulation, democrats who sat and stood in opposition to reigning in fannie mae and freddie mac, which helped create the mortgage crisis. he told a great story. problem is he used some facts that helped him and ignored some facts that didn't help him. it was vintage clinton, great to watch. it was a great story. >> david? >> the democrats have now had two very good, surprisingly strong nigs. >> right. >> the stumble over the

platform -- >> that was a stumble tonight. but they ended -- they had a tremendous finish. if barack obama tomorrow night can make it 3 for 3, they could break out in this election. they've been trying to do that. the dynamics have been steady all along. they have a chance. i think it's a chance, i don't think it's certain, i think they have a chance -- >> we've seen bounces before for democrats that then have faded away. >> it's been a while. bill clinton has a bit of a bounce, the kerry/bush race they both got eight points. because of polarization, the cable era, the blogosphere, president obama got two points, four years ago against john mccain. carly was involved in the campaign. you knew it. here's my big question, though, i think david's right any had a very good show. republicans will take issue. carly rightfully points to the points bill clinton made. if you have three good nights, my question is what happened

over breakfast friday morning? the government releases the latest unemployment report. if it's a positive and they have three good nights, they might begin to get it passed. >> you can always argue that people's opinions on the economy are already cooked. there isn't going to be anything so surprising that will change the way people feel about what's going on in their lives. >> in that small slice available. that's all these speeches, this coverage is about tiny percentage of people in eight states. >> let's go down to wolf blitzer on the floor. wolf? >> they're only about 100 votes away from -- not a huge surprise, barack obama clinching the democratic presidential nomination behind us. the roll call is continuing. kate baldwin is on the floor. kate, what have you got?

>> they're getting ready to clinch this. i guess they're almost there. it's all but official that this no, ma'am haitian has been clinch. it's a procedural thing. they have to do it to make it legal. jessica yellin is here. candy crowley is here. let's listen as they go over the top. >> you will understand when mississippi passes at this point for ohio. >> thank you, mississippi. mississippi passes to ohio. ohio, you have 191 votes. >> thank you, alice. madam secretary, i'm chairman of the ohio democratic party. ohio, ohio the battleground state, ohio, the state that

elects presidents as we did in 2008, ohio the home american heroes and american icons, the home of neil armstrong and john glenn. the home of senator sherrod brun and governor ted strickland and ohio in spite of mitt romney's efforts, the home of the chevy cruz and chrysler jeep and 850,000 american jobs. ohio, madam secretary, casts all 18 vo 188 votes for the president and the next president of the united states, barack obama. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ohio passed 188 votes. for barack obama. >> not a surprise. ohio. not a surprise at all. that ohio puts president obama

over the top. those who are remaining here, delegates and the guests are cheering because he now, once again, officially is the democratic presidential nominee. so they can move forward on this. i believe that joe biden will get the vice presidential nomination later tonight as well, candy. >> so do they, because this arena is about -- >> hold on a second. we'll get that microphone of yours worng. we're not hearing you. biden will get the official vice presidential nomination tomorrow, jessica. give me a takeaway of what has really stuck out in your mind as a result of what we've seen on this second day of the democratic convention. >> former president clinton had a three-fold mission to energize the party base, to draw a strong distinction for the democrats and republicans and to sort of establish president obama's

credibility on his economic vision. that was his challenge. obviously he met the challenge. as we've been saying, it's up to president obama to make his own case tomorrow night. i think questioning whether he'll give a good speech is silly. we know president obama can give a good speech. will he embrace it tomorrow night? the question is what happens in the coming days. i think you can expect a strong speech and the case the president -- president clinton has laid out, it will be interesting to see if president obama picks up on some of these themes to come. >> candy, give me a takeaway. what do you think? >> i think that bill clinton did a lot of things that president obama cannot in some cases and will not do. it was defensive of the obama record which now he doesn't need

to do. it was wildly aggressively partisan, even though it was cloaked in the, oh, i like the bushes and i worked with reagans and then he was just smash mouth. it was a pretty aggressive partisan speech. president obama doesn't have to do that tomorrow night. so what does it free the president up to do? it frees him up to do what he does best, which is that rhetoric and the flourishing. he can move forward, because bill clinton has done the smashing. he has done the defensiveness and now barack obama can come in here and do what he does best. >> 2 for 2 as david gergen says. michelle obama did a great job last night for president. tomorrow night it's up to the president of the united states to do a great job for himself. president obama certainly has some hard acts to follow when he speaks to this convention tomorrow night. can he live up to the speeches given by his wife, the former president bill clinton? stay with us.

i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him.

[ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans

that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. >> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card. and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft. and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. if mary had lifelock's bank account alerts, she would have been notified in time to help stop it. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available, guarding your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. you even get a $1 million service guarantee. that's security no one can beat. [♪...] [click-click] [♪...]

we believe that we're all in this together is a far better philosophy than, you're on your own. >> former president bill clinton electrifying the crowd here at the democratic national convention earlier this evening. the crowds have largely gone away, the roll call is still

under way. a number of people do remain here, the bars and restaurants in this area are filling up, people trying to make their way back to the hotels. some of them staying very far away as we continue to watch the roll call, though. piers, take it away. >> thanks, anderson. there's a buzz here, guys after what was an extraordinary speech. what did you make of it? we got two ends of the spectrum here. former george bush speaker. start with you, paul. to me, i'll lay my cards on the table, that was pound for pound, dollar for dollar, one of the great modern political speeches i've ever heard. >> yeah, 20 years plus i've been with president clinton, he continues to amaze and continues to raise the bar. here's one very important thing. he never calls it a speech, like when he's like work on it th his staff. he always calls it a talk. he does not like the lift and loft and grandeur that i hope we'll see tomorrow from president obama.

they're sort of the yin and yang of the democratic party. he was rocky and emotional. i think if you can make substance riveting, you are doing a great job. >> a great tweet has come in from "the washington post." he had 3,136 words prepared. he delivered 5,895, including audience applause. classic bill clinton. go with the flow, ad lib. i mean, the teleprompter froze at one point, he carried on. >> it was ad libbed, but also deeply considered. clinton put his finger on the h-bomb of this election, and that is the issue of nursing homes. the ryan/romney plan proposes to hold harmless people who are seniors or over 55 from any cuts to medicare. seniors vote in enormous numbers. it might seem like they have nothing to worry about. but the ryan/romney plan

proposes to make big cuts in medicaid, that is the program that increasingly pays for more and more of nursing home care. by talking about nursing homes, clinton put the senior vote back in contention. by reminding them of their fears. before people congratulate bill clinton too much for this speech and it was a good speech. it's important to remember, that the reason it was powerful was because of the strategic decision by republicans to endorse the ryan plan. they didn't have to do that. and some of us have been pleading with them for a year, do not do this, do not commit this election. do not make this election commit about restructuring the welfare state. make it about obama's job's record. the republicans chose not to do that, and they set themselves up for this comeback tonight that is not just clinton's credit, that is an utterly unnecessary republican mistake. >> larry tweeted, i love this, clinton loved it so much, because obama needed it so much. which i thought was a very, very interesting comment to make.

>> absolutely. the clinton/obama relationship is a lot better off than it was four years ago. i think this is part of it. i think they have bonded on their agenda. david makes a really powerful point. i can tell you, i've been talking to president clinton the last few weeks. putting paul ryan on the budget -- the budget chairman on the ticket, really did energize president clinton. he was going to do his best for president obama no matter what. david is right, president clinton balanced the last budget we had, he is appalled by the ryan budget, and that is -- i think he felt a little like a mosquito in a nudist colony, anywhere you land is a fertile opportunity in a target-rich zone. >> what does this mean for the republicans going forward? they had a little bit of a bounce after last week. but you have to say, the double whammy, michelle obama and bill clinton giving two different,

very powerful speeches and you still have the top dog to come, barack obama tomorrow night. if they haven't had the distractions of hurricanes and so on, it won't make much difference, it's going very, very well for the democrats. i heard some of our panel say earlier, this could be the game changing 24 hours. what do you think? >> i wonder about that. this is going to be a very interesting test in the next 24 hours about what does tv do in the modern era. romney had very poor ratings for his speech and a small bounce. the question is, is that a romney story or is that a tv story? do they watch it on tv or youtube? are we so partisan and locked in that conventions don't bounce? small conventions in 2008 and 2004 for both the winners and losers. >> you have to be jubilant tonight because bill clinton came along and said, it's the best bill clinton speech i've ever heard. he's made some amazing speeches.

what is the danger for barack obama? is it that he can't live up to what we just heard tonight? is it like following sinatra at the sands in vegas? where do you go? >> maybe it's following sinatra if you're vegas. president obama is one of the great orders of our time. he is blessed that his predecessor in his party is also one of the great orders of our time. very, very different styles, though. i have every hope and expectation. i brought my 12-year-old son to the convention to see president clinton and president obama, he'll remember this the rest of his life. we didn't even know we were going to get such a magnificent speech out of the first lady and the san antonio mayor. always outstanding. >> i thought they were brilliant. we're going to come back with sandra fluker, another woman who gave a great and different speech.

i want to nominate a man

who's cool on the outside, but who burns for america on the inside. >> welcome back to the cnn grill, we're joined by three new guests. lucille richards, sandra fluke and steve israel. chairman of the democratic congressional campaign committee. big, big night. i love that line from bill clinton there, barack obama is cool on the inside, but burning for america on the outside. steve, what did you make of that? >> there's only one bill clinton and boy did we hear from him tonight. >> is that the best speech you've heard him make? >> one of the best speeches. every speech i hear him make i think is the best. and i think he topped that. it's a reminder of what happens when you invest the right priorities in the mid class. bill clinton's economic priorities, the longest peace time expansion in history, 25

million jobs, new startups, innovation, entrepreneurship, the republican policies under geor bush, debt, deficit, tax cuts for the rich and middle class imploded. that's what this election is all about. >> sandra, i watched your speech with great admiration, i tweeted to that effect. >> thank you. >> i wonder what rush limbaugh was thinking, spitting blood with indignation, i imagine. >> i couldn't care less what rush limbaugh was thinking. >> i bet you couldn't. >> do you have a message for him tonight? >> nope. >> nothing? >> nope. >> just a stony silence? >> that's correct. >> a lot of people were tweeting as you might expect, a lot of rather unpleasant abusive stuff on the right. how do you deal with that? i was appalled by what i was reading. >> if nobody's disagreeing with you and nobody's coming after you, then you're not standing up for something. in my life, i intend to stand up for things, i don't worry about it. >> after all you've been through, standing there tonight, the warmup for bill clinton, one of the great moments, how did you feel looking out at

everyone? >> i felt a lot of gratitude. it was a passionate room and they were so supportive, i appreciated that, it was fabulous to see how fired up they are about the choice that we have this fall. because when i was talking about the policies that are on the table and what could be at risk for women in this country, the crowd really responded, because they know what kind of choice we have, between president obama and mr. romney's plans for the women of this country. >> when you realized the gop platform had absolutely no exceptions for abortion, not for rape, incest, the health of the mother, you must have felt -- i don't know how you felt. how did you feel? >> like i'm not a priority to them. that's -- i think that's what it comes down to, that women aren't a priority. >> from your perspective, how important has sandra been as a kind of stand and bearer for what many would view as basic

decency for women's rights in america? >> absolutely. sandra, tonight, was outstanding, as she always is. i loved the fact that she talked about, it's not only an issue for young women, but for young men as well. i think that's really -- i couldn't agree more that this whole night tonight and last night was about whether we want to move forward as a country or we want to go back to the 1950s. i think the crowd tonight, you heard it over and over, folks want to move forward, not back. >> i thought the powerful thing tonight in sandra's speech was where it suits mitt romney and paul ryan to keep the whole focus on the economy, where they think they have a straight fight that theymy win. the argument being is america better or worse off? well, depending on what you believe and statistics you read, how you spin them, it could go either way. if the debate gets extended to women's rights, gay rights, all the social issues. the conservatives have gten

themselves into a mess over, frankly. that's got to help barack obama, doesn't it? >> it helps barack obama and house democrats. and by the way, piers, there's a connection between these vitally important women's issues, women's rights and the economy. the republican majority and house of representatives has had two years to focus on opening up new businesses. instead, they chose to spend two years focused on closing down planned parenthood. how can an economy grow, a middle class grow, how can small businesses be created when you spend every day of every week of every month thinking about shutting down planned parenthood? that is not an economic strategy. that's why i think we're going to win back the house. people have had it with those extreme priorities, they want us focused on jobs, small businesses and entrepreneurships. >> sandra, at the end of your speech you got a huge ovation from the convention. it must have been very moving for you to receive that. where do you go now? you have such a high profile. people will be looking at you,

thinking, you should come into politics full time. >> we'll find a district for you. >> thank you. maybe some day, but that's not what i'm focused on right now. i'm just focused on getting us to november, making sure that we re-elect the president who has stood with women over the last four years. we've got a lot more to accomplish for women in this country. we have to get the violence against women act reauthorized, the fair pay act reauthorized. we have to get funding protected for planned parenthood. we need him for another four years. >> anderson, back to you. >> piers, thanks very much. stand by for a fact check of the numbers president clinton threw out. to defend president obama's handling of the economy and his own record. a fact check, ahead. >> announcer: meet tom, a proud dad whose online friends all "like" the photos he's posting. oscar likes tom's photos, but he

loves the access to tom's personal information. oscar's an identity thief who used tom's personal info to buy new teeth and a new car, and stuck tom with the $57,000 bill. [tires squeal] now meet carl who works from the coffee shop and uses the free wi-fi. marie works from there too. she's an identity thief who used a small device to grab his wi-fi signal, then stole enough personal information to hijack and drain his bank accounts. every year, millions of americans learn all it may take to devastate your life is a little personal information in the wrong hands. this is identity theft and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. lifelock offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection, period. ordinary credit monitoring services may take 30 days to alert you. lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection would have alerted tom as soon as they noticed an attack within their network, before it was too late. and lifelock's bank account takeover alerts could have

notified carl in time to help him protect his money. lifelock protects your social security number, money, credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one protects you better than lifelock, and lifelock stands behind that with the power of their $1 million service guarantee. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and try 60 days of identity theft protection risk-free. 60 days risk-free. use promo code: be secure order now and get this document shredder, a $29 value free. [♪...] call or go online now. [♪...]

their number one priority was not to put america back to work, it was to put the president out of work.

well, wait a minute. senator, i hate to break it to you, but we're going to keep president obama on the job. >> that's senator mitch mcconnell the republican leader in the senate. and president clinton going directly after him, mincing no wos at all. let's go to brianna keilar. she has a celebrity on the convention floor. this one with a special connection to president obama. >> that's right. i'm here with kal penn, he's a former member of the obama administration, you were written off of the hit tv show "house" so you could go work in the office of public engagement, to be a liaison for young americans. that's what you're doing for the campaign. how does the president re-ignite the enthusiasm with young voters? >> in a lot of states we think

that enthusiasm hasn't dropped off. he's had offices in a lot of different places, organizers that have been working nonstop. i think now what we've seen, in our youth events, you have a lot of young folks that made a lot of promises to their friends, why should you register to vote? why should we care? they're seeing the fruits of that, friends are home from iraq, pell grants are available and college is more affordable. the president wants a second term. >> a little bit of pressure on you, you're in charge of the live stream that goes out from the campaign, and this is key, because this is where a lot of those people, the 65,000 people that don't get to see the president now, since he's not speaking at b of a stadium, they're going to be watching you. are you feeling the pressure? >> i'm feeling the fun pressure. i think a lot of the folks that can't make it into the stadium, they're setting up house parties in addition. we have a fun program planned for them, a lot of special guests, policy experts, fun celebrities and other surrogates, have a nice conversation from 8:00 to 9:00 before the speeches, and then a wrap-up afterwards.

it should be a lot of fun. it's the first live stream ever from a convention. >> you're back into acting, you're out of the administration what about going back into the administration, would you do that? >> i'm shooting a pilot right now for cbs, i'm having a great time with my first love. i would be honored if there was a chance to serve in president obama's administration again. i'm not going to rule it out, i feel blessed that i can do two things that i love. i feel like only in america can you do something like that. >> kal penn, thank you so much. there you have it, anderson, who knows, maybe we'll be seeing kal penn serving in a second obama term if there is one. >> thanks very much. i want to check in with erin burnett and tom foreman for a cnn fact check on the economy now, the economy based on sme of things president clinton said during his speech. tom? >> there were lots of numbers in here, some of them accurate, some of them not. but obviously, bill clinton's administration, you know, it's amazing. it's not just democrats that look back at him with great

fondness, it's republicans, it's republicans. they say, this guy was great, he's amazing in his ability to re-invent. a lot of people big fans of his. it touched democrats because of his economic record. they look at the job growth, good times, internet boom. that makes them remember good times. the challenge tonight is for democrats to encourage voters to see similarities with president obama. to say, look -- >> well, steering them away from the problems, obviously. >> you're like clinton. >> yeah, exactly, but not too much. and that's what they tried to do tonight. listen to some of what the president had to say. >> president obama started with a much weaker economy than i did. listen to me now. no president -- no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years.

>> see, that was a key, key line in terms of context. what he's trying to say, really is, vote for president obama because he'll be like me but now let me explain why he didn't succeed the way i did. look at the comparison here, i think this is important. no matter how you look at this. like president obama, president clinton came into office with soaring joblessness. 7.1% for mr. clinton. that's within a few points, tenths of a point of what mr. obama faced. that's where the similarities end. under president clinton, the rate steadily dropped down to the 5% range at the end of his first term. deep down into the 4% range by the time he left office, pretty much full employment at that point, not the case for mr. obama. in the clinton years, average wages rose about 30%, nothing like that really happened during the obama years. wages did not rise anything like that. clinton inherited a $290 billion deficit. changed it, to a $236 billion surplus by the time the clinton years were done.

mr. obama has inherited a $459 billion deficit. yeah, that's worse, but it's even worse now. 1.3 trillion. and homeownership rose to a record high during the clinton years. it's declined under president obama, and the mortgage crisis, although we have to be fair it's really clear when you look at those numbers, very different economic performance from these two administrations, and they're at pains now to explain this and try to make that context work for them and not against them. >> that's right. another interesting thing i noticed in here, president clinton, again, bringing up, brb has -- president obama has an approach proposed by the bipartisan simpson-bowles commission. we talked about this so much. >> endlessly. >> they keep stumbling into this. it's a commission that came up with a plan to fix the debt problem in this country. the president did not endorse the simpson-bowles commission.

everyone may notice this last week, paul ryan brought it up, and he also was on that commission. and didn't vote for simpson-bowles, both he and president obama failed at that, now they're bringing it up as if they were on board. it's another inconsistency. >> a completely fair point to say the times are different than they were under president clinton. but if they're so different, why are we talking about the similarities? or else we have to talk about the similarities. it's hard to have it both ways. >> there's some other factors in here, but we'll save this for another time. we'll send it back to you, anderson. erin, tom, thank you very much. we continue to watch this roll call vote, which is playing out. let's talk to our panelists. what are you -- we didn't get your take on what you heard from president clinton tonight. did anything surprise you? >> well, i mean, you heard michelle obama give such a powerful testimony to his heart and you saw bill clinton give a powerful testimony to his head. going through, making the

arguments why he did a good job and giving people real content. i think for democrats, also for good americans, it was like going to school. i mean, it was like -- it was -- he was a professor in chief, helping people understand, it was a talk, it wasn't a speech. i think people were thrilled with it, my friends were just -- totally thrilled to hear also just a full throated defense of the president. no holds barre this man did a good job. i could not have done a better job. >> what do you think president obama has to do tomorrow? >> i think he now needs to make the case for the future. i think his heart has been defended, his head has been defended. his judgment has been defended. what are you going to do going forward? if he pulls that off tomorrow night, you have almost a perfect performance, at least on the main stage. the platform committee does something else. on the main stage, a perfect performance, a trifecta. i think the republicans are in deep trouble. >> who is he trying to reach out to tomorrow night? is it the base? is it everybody? is it the small group of people who are still undecided?

>> i think he should be reaching out to the people who look at their pocketbooks, look at the kitchen table, who feel bad about themselves, feel bad about the country. who have heard bad things about them, i think he's going to be reaching out to them and saying, i understand your pain, here's where i'm going to take you. >> he wants the 2008 coalition to come home. the young people, the women, hispanic, people who have been disappointed. bill clinton and michelle obama have given them fresh reasons, fresh hope, fresh conviction. if they can -- it's hard to make a souffle rise twice, but it's possible in this case that they can do it. >> i think there's one thing that's changed from 2008 that's really important. we heard wonderful speeches tonight and last night. what's different is, in the last four years, people have figured out that delivering a good speech is not the same as delivering solid results. there is a level of cynicism, skepticism about beautiful

words, that i think didn't exist four years ago. while they were great speeches and i'm quite sure obama will give a great speech, the bar is much higher now, because people are looking at all these fancy words. through the lens of what is going onn my life, and what's going on in a lot of people's lives is not very good. >> there are also those who would say that four years ago, candidate obama was relatively unknown, it was a rorschach test, people could project whatever they wanted on to him. they know him now. >> the republicans see he did inherit a ditch, life and politics are often not fair, he's been the president for three years. the question for me is, do people give him the second chance? the american people are pretty forgiving, this was an aspirational, inspirational candidate four years ago who made a whole lot of promises. you can go through a list, some he has cast, others he has not. the big one of making washington different and better, making people's lives better, that's a giant question mark.

he uses the term incomplete. is he a credible messenger tomorrow when he says trust me and believe me again? that's the question. >> what we saw tonight was sort of the king of second chances. you look at bill clinton talk about comeback second chances. this was a man who was impeached. impeached by republicans in the house of representatives. he was tarnished by a sex scandal. this is a man who has come back and he tonight was such a triumph. >> he delivered results. what bill clinton did was delivered results, gloria. >> right, but what he delivered tonight was not fancy words, though, carly, it was a substantive drilling down of the last four years. >> a lot more for us to talk about. we're going to take a quick break, more on what president obama needs to do tomorrow, what he's likely to do tomorrow. we'll be right back.

in the end we decide to champion the cause for which our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor, the cause of forming a more perfect union. my fellow americans, if that is what you want, if that is what you believe, you must vote, and you must re-elect president barack obama. god bless you, and god bless america. >> a rousing speech from the former president of the united states, urging everyone to re-elect the president. as he was speaking, we got a statement from his wife, the secretary of state, she was in china.

she's now in team -- timor. secretary of state do not attend political conventions, they did issue a statement, this is the first convention i have missed in many, many years. on a personal level, let me also say my husband read parts of his speech to me over the last few days. i received the as prepared version. which i'm anxious, when i can, to compare -- as compared to the delivered version. she then laughed. it's a great honor for him to be nominating the president. you spent some time with hillary clinton leading up to this speech. i'm sure she would have liked to have been here, but i'm sure she feels as secretary of state, she needs to stay away. >> the national security team always does. her husband did go off script a bit, especially when he made those comments about the fact that secretary clinton and president obama have been so close, it shows to the rest of the world, that democracy is not a blood sport. that was not in the prepared

remarks. >> he had a little reference to the secretary of state, saying that barack obama, he even gave her a chance. >> yes, absolutely. >> after a bitter primary. >> yes, exactly. all's fair in love and war and politics. in the end it's like the bushes and the reagans, and now there's the clintons and the obamas, we knew this is how it was going to end even when it was bitter during the primary season four years ago. listen, they have, over the course of the last two days, teed up president obama beautifully. and he can come in, and he can give an eloquent speech about the future, we've all heard him give eloquent speeches about the future. the business has been done by those kind of beforehand. and i think he has to be a little specific and say, how is the next four years different than this four years? but having said that, i think a lot has been said that he no longer has to say -- >> candy, one thing is very important, these conventions are

important, but those three presidential debates you'll be moderating one of those presidential debates in october, those will be critically important, especially for those remaining undecided or switchable voters. >> sure. and i get a lot of people saying, are there actually going to be undecided voters on october 16th? which is when the second debate is, which is the one i'm doing. and yes, there are. there really are, and you want to know who these people are, folks that go into that voting booth that sometimes aren't really sure what they're going to do. and i think what we're talking about now, that very small group are gut voters. i mean, those people that just go, okay, i'm going to go with him. >> and that's the one other point i would make about the president. we all know he has to make the economic case tomorrow, he has to be specific on policy. the other point is, in 2008 he ran as this candidate of hope and change. there was an emotional connection he had to the voters.

he lost that to such a great extent in office. he never explained his policies effectively. he seemed so cold. he does have a challenge to reconnect emotionally with the public. >> thanks so much. good work, excellent work, we'll be looking forward to seeing the presentation of your documentary, candy. thanks very much to you. as well, thanks to all of our analysts, all of our reporters, anderson cooper, thanks to you as well. i'm wolf blitzer here on the floor of the democratic convention. our coverage of the democratic national convention continues right after this. more on president clinton's big speech and other highlights. and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft. and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. if mary had lifelock's bank account alerts, she would have

been notified in time to help stop it. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available, guarding your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. you even get a $1 million service guarantee. that's security no one can beat. [♪...] [click-click] [♪...] ordinary rubs don't always work on my arthritis.

try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief.

capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis.